Should I Run My Business Part Time or Full Time

In my book, there’s no such thing as a part-time business. Running a business demands more than just your time. It requires energy, passion, focus, and even some financial commitment. You either have a business or a hobby.

Granted, there are those who make a lot of money starting part-time, but eventually at some point in life, they need to make a decision to go full steam ahead.

A good business needs to have a strong vision & mission, a clear positioning on how their offering will deliver value for their customers, as well as some kind of leverage that the business can use to sail forward without having to sell their souls to overwork.

Online Business

A lot of people start an online business because of the freedom that online business promises. They enjoy having their work desk sitting across their beds, being able to finish work and jump straight to bed, skipping traffic, bad weather and sometimes shower altogether.

While all these promises are true, it often hides the real building blocks that made up an online business. Despite what’s being advertised out there no online tycoons made their millions by sleeping all day at home. It takes hard work and determination just like any other business.

Freelancing vs. Business

In legal term, freelancing is a business just like any other. However, in my book, freelancing is still not a business. Freelancing is a job structure where you’re not being bound to any specific employers. There are several components in my opinions are missing from having freelancing to be called a business:

Vision & Mission

Few freelancers started the venture with clear vision and mission or even a simple goal. If any, the goals would be to create as much money as possible, making it no difference than a job. Fact is, the way you conduct your business is strongly driven by your vision and mission statement (if you have a vision/mission statement that doesn’t drive your business, then you have a different problem).

Clear Positioning

Established businesses have a clear target market, understanding of their problems and strategy to bring the business value into the face of their target market. Some call it marketing strategy, I call it positioning. And positioning is what makes convinced your customers/clients to buy from you instead of your competitors. Many freelancers have some ideas about who they market their service to, but few understand how to get to them.

Leverage

A business should be something you can leverage. This means, the more money you make doesn’t have to mean the more time or energy you have to spend. A high leverage business is businesses that can make lots money without the owner have to work like a horse. This is not possible through freelancing since freelancers can only make more money by working more.

On the other side of the coins, I’ve also seen many freelancers evolved to establish a business with clear target market, strong positioning and unique value proposition. These are people that started freelancing with big dream in mind and slowly work their ways towards that dream.

My Point

Why did I say this thing? For me, business is a vehicle for you to achieve your dream. It is a long and hard road to give you financial freedom, all the time you want with your family and even your hobby. It’s a vehicle to allow you to give more to the community without having to worry about meeting your own needs. But all this can only be achieved through perseverance and hard work.

That’s just my views, would like to get yours to see if miss anything. Type in your comments below.

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AboutEmmanuel Setyawan

Emmanuel started his career as an IT professional then later transitioned into a business analyst role in a different company. His passion for business and strategy leads him to start Accolade Coaching in 2012 to become the business coaching firm focusing on helping companies formulate and implement the best strategy to unlock their uncontested market space.